Dancing the night away at Cowtown USA

CaptionCowtown Square Dance Center

Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

Bob Soman, left, 81, of Hemet; Cathy Emery,69, of Riverside; and Bruce Turner, 61, of Grand Terrace; dance together during the last dance of the night at Cowtown Square Dance Center in Riverside in December. The three are members of a dancing club that regularly meets at the hall.

Bob Soman, left, 81, of Hemet; Cathy Emery,69, of Riverside; and Bruce Turner, 61, of Grand Terrace; dance together during the last dance of the night at Cowtown Square Dance Center in Riverside in December. The three are members of a dancing club that regularly meets at the hall. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Beverly Smith, back left, and David McCume kick up their heels during a square dance at Cowtown in Riverside. Many of the dancers are widows and widowers, and a surprising number of them have met their second spouses here.

Beverly Smith, back left, and David McCume kick up their heels during a square dance at Cowtown in Riverside. Many of the dancers are widows and widowers, and a surprising number of them have met their second spouses here. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Forty years ago, a group of square dancers went in together to buy and clean up a seedy topless honky-tonk amid the citrus groves on the outskirts of Riverside. Known as Cowtown Square Dance Center, the hall still serves as an unusual hub for the region's square-dancing community, where they...Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times